Bartleby the Scrivener

Everybody knows Ahab, but do you know Bartleby? It’s a strange story about a strange man, which, of course, attracts me. Bartleby is a lawyer’s copyist who decides he doesn’t want to do this sort of writing anymore and meets every instruction with the words: I would prefer not to. You can read Bartleby as simply a humorous tale. Or you can read it as a story of the existential crisis most writers, myself included, face at one time or the other. Melville was feeling dissatisfied with his choice of a writing career—the critics were unfriendly—and, in my opinion, the… show more.

I’ve always loved this short novel, but after reading Byron Katie, I love it even more. Katie has a teaching she often talks and writes about which is the concept of ‘my business, your business, the universe’s business.’ She believes that if we always stay firmly grounded in/focused on ‘my business’, and let other people and the universe take care of their business, then we’ll spare ourselves so much unnecessary suffering. For example, if I think my dog shouldn’t bark at the postman every day, that’s me straying into my dog’s business — which I can’t control (I’ve tried and… show more.